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Mahavogga 1.4
Tipitaka >> Vinaya Pitaka >> Khandhaka >> Mahavagga >> First Khandaka >> 1.4 Adapted from the Translation by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg ---- THE MAHAVAGGA FIRST KHANDHAKA(THE FORMATION OF THE ORDER OF BHIKKHUS) Chapter-4 : Buddha Meets First Disciples, Two Merchants under the Rajayatana tree. 1. Then the Lord Buddha, at the end of those seven days, arose from that state of meditation, and went from the foot of the Muchalinda tree to the Rajayatana (tree); when he had reached it, he sat cross-legged at the foot of the Rajayatana tree uninterruptedly during seven days, enjoying the bliss of emancipation(Vimukti/Nirvana state/trance). 2. At that time Tapussa and Bhallika, two merchants, came travelling on the road from Ukkala (Orissa) to that place. Then a deity who had been (in a former life) a blood-relatian of the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika, thus spoke to the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika: 'Here, my noble friends, at the foot of the Rajayatana tree, is staying the Lord Buddha, who has just become Sambuddha. Go and show your reverence to him, the Lord Buddha, by (offering him) rice-cakes and lumps of honey. Long will this be to you for a good and for a blessing.' 3. And the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika took rice-cakes and lumps of honey, and went to the place where the Lord Buddha was; having approached him and respectfully saluted the Lord Buddha, they stationed themselves near him; standing near him, the merchants Tapussa and Bhallika thus addressed the Lord Buddha: 'May, O Lord, the Lord Buddha accept from us these rice-cakes and lumps of honey, that that may long be to us for a good and for a blessing! 4. Then the Lord Buddha thought: 'The Tathagatas do not accept (food) with their hands. Now with what shall I accept the rice-cakes and lumps of honey?' Then the four MahaRaja(King) gods, understanding by the power of their minds the reflection which had arisen in the mind of the Lord Buddha, offered to the Lord Buddha from the four quarters (of the horizon) four bowls made of stone (saying), 'May, O Lord, the Lord Buddha accept herewith the rice-cakes and the lumps of honey!' The Lord Buddha accepted those new stone bowls; and there be received the rice-cakes and honey lumps, and those, when he had received, he ate. 5. And Tapussa and Bhallika, the merchants, when they saw that the Lord Buddha had cleansed his bowl and his hands, bowed down in reverence at the feet of the Lord Buddha and thus addressed the Lord Buddha: 'We take our refuge, Lord, in the Lord Buddha and in the Dhamma; may the Lord Buddha receive us as disciples who, from this day forth while our life lasts, have taken their refuge (in him).' These were the first in the world to become lay-disciples (of the Buddha) by the formula which contained (only) the dyad. (The two merchants then went to Burma(Myanmar) to spread the teaching ) Here ends the account of what passed under the Rajayatana tree.